Stealth Cam picture.

Jeremy and his opening day buck.

Hunter: Jeremy Lengle

The story of this buck started with a rub and scrape that Adam found. Just so happened it was near a stand we had put up the week before. I was going to be hunting this buck in his core area and I liked my chances. I just didn’t think it would happen so fast.

As I was waiting for daylight, I heard the sound of antlers coming together. Just a little light sparring, nothing serious, but it got my heart pounding to know that there were two bucks nearby. It couldn’t get light fast enough for me. As the sun's rays began to creep over the horizon, I finally saw one of the bucks. I recognized him as the small 8 point that was also frequenting the area. At this point, I figured the other deer had moved on. I watched him for a few minutes feeding on the plentiful acorn crop. Movement to my left caught my eye and I immediately grabbed for my Nikon binos. "Oh My Gosh, there he is!" I said to myself.

The big guy appeared out of the morning fog like a ghost. It sent me into an uncontrollable mess of emotions. I had two bucks feeding 50-yards from me, and I was just praying they would walk my direction. Time had not allowed me to trim shooting lanes at this stand, so they would need to get rather close for me to get a shot. That’s exactly what happened! They kept feeding in my direction and my heart was pounding harder the closer they came. Finally he stopped 10 yards in front of me behind a large oak tree. I came to full draw. He needed to take two steps out from behind the tree. He must have had that sixth sense like most bucks do, because he turned around and circled to my left. At this point it felt like I was holding full draw forever and I had to let down. He circled to my left and was now almost right under my stand. Again, I came to full draw as he stopped. I let the Beman fly from my Hoyt Katera with the Spitfire Maxx leading the way! He bolted and ran back the way he came, out of sight. In my emotional stupor, I grabbed my phone and called my friend Adam, and told him I needed his help and that I had just shot a good buck.

I climbed down and sat at the bottom of the tree waiting for Adam. There were all sorts of emotions running through my mind and doubt started to creep in. Adam showed up and asked which way he ran. He headed off in the same direction and it wasn’t long until I heard him say he found it! All of my emotions let loose as I went running in his direction. I tackled Adam and thanked him for helping me find my deer. When either one of us shoots a deer, the other is always there at a moments notice to lend a hand and start tracking.

I want to say a special thanks to Adam. This was the first deer I’ve ever taken on opening day and I couldn’t be happier. It’s going to be a long wait until next year!